Deliberating is exhausting. All that thinking and talking and thinking: whew!
See, I’m currently juror #4 on a criminal trial here in good ol’ Jersey City. I’ve been deliberating all day, and I’m SPENT.
Well, mostly spent. Not too spent to come home and whip up some duck breasts with cilantro pesto and Asian vegetables, from Aliza Green’s Starting with Ingredients
Seriously though, between all the deliberating and all the barely-concealed panic about my almost-obliterated website, I’m effing tired. So it’s a good thing that this particular meal was (relatively) quick at about an hour, because if it had been any more involved than some chopping and searing and FoProing, our duck would have come from Wild Fusion Chinese take-out.
Regardless of how quick the meal was, this is going to be a shorty, partly because I have to do some work work – civic duty don’t pay the bills – and partly so I can hie to the sofa for some much needed lazing about.
I started with the pesto. Which was supposed to be macadamia-cilantro, but the two stores I stopped off at on my way home from the courthouse were both fresh out of macadamia nuts and I wasn’t about to go on a nut mission; see above re: me = tired. I used regular old pine nuts instead, and I don’t want to hear anything about it from the likes of YOU.
Then I took this picture of the inside of a cabbage. Enlightening, is it not?
The Asian vegetables here were napa cabbage, jicama, carrots and snow peas that didn’t make it into the shot. The were quickly wilted in some boiling water before being shocked, drained and lightly dressed with a mixture of lime, soy, sesame oil, chile paste and ginger.
(Okay, some more work work rolled in, so you’ll have to amuse yourself with the pretty pretty pictures. Such are the perils of writing on the fly!)
Duck, searing. Marvel at the amount of fat that renders out of two duck breasts!
Duck, sliced. Crispy ends are the chef’s perq!
Dinner is served. Come on, you know you want that.
Thursday Night Smackdown 
Looks delicious! Too bad I’m allergic to duck. I can’t cook half your shit, no matter how yummy it sounds.
And color me impressed, btw, that you can deliberate / work / recover from HackGate / sear duck breasts at the same time. I bow to your superior goddess-ery.
If I were a duck, that last photo would turn me to cannibalism.
Not a duck fan, but that looks awesome.
That looks awesome & I totally want it…right now, for breakfast. Smartfood’s not cutting it when duck photos are taunting me.
However, I am jinxed with duck since That Time The Firefighters Came, so I leave it to my mum & pig out at her house. Oh, and when I buy confit at my local orgo butcher to make cassoulet – and get double so I can nibble my way through cooking – that’s safe enough.
Wowza! I’m a vegetarian, and that looks good enough to tempt me away from my no-meat ways.
Hope things calm down for you soon Michelle. It seems like you deserve some downtime!
Oh my word that looks delicious. And that duck fat – I want to make fries in it, immediately.
Damn that looks good. I have never cooked duck and don’t intend to start anytime soon, but I’m happy to admire yours. And the vegetables. And the pesto.
Damn. I do want that. And I don’t even like cilantro (as you guys in Amurika call it, over here in the UK we call it coriander; something that confused me no end when I was living in PDX).
Jax x
lizz, the duck breasts (or the anticipation thereof) are what get you through the rough times. maybe that’s just me.
kay, duck cannibalism is the name of my new grind-core parody band.
kerry, you and brian both. i just don’t get it. what’s not to love?
cayenne, that sounds like a story we need to hear, if it deserves capital letters.
k, heh, thanks. and yes, i DO deserve downtime. here that, universe?
camille, it’s in the fridge, awaiting potato-y goodness.
karen, why the duck moratorium?
jackie, a cilantro hater, i see. there’s no accounting for taste.
Lovely, I’m eating more duck lately. This sounds deliciious; thanks for sharing.
I love duck…love, love, love duck! I’ve never cooked it at home but perhaps I need to try. Sorry to hear about the jury duty!
duck is my life. beautiful dish. i’ve never had jury duty. it’s a wheelchair perq.